CC, Katie and Quinn

CC, Katie and Quinn came in town this weekend. Kate loved all the extra attention and having a buddy to play with.

Cozy Coupe turned Double Decker bus...
playing trucks...(yes, Kate is in shorts in January)

getting a fun ride from CC!

Attempt at Cousin pics...

Quinn (11 months), Brynlee (3 months), Kate (2 years)

Who are you?

Sisters!

Cousins...

The best pic we could get...Brynlee always starts out sitting up but by the time we get the others to somewhat cooperate she has fallen over.

Pump It Up!

Friday night we went to a birthday party for our friend Sean. It was at Pump It Up. (We went to Pump It Up Jr. a few months ago...this is the version for "bigger" kids). As soon as I told Kate we were going to "jump" and "slide" she got really excited. As soon as I took her shoes off she was off. She immediately went to this big slide...

I was impressed she made it up the stairs...

She watched a couple of "bigger" kids go down. They all stood up and jumped down the slide. Kate sat there for a minute, thought about it and then stood up and jumped down too. I wish I had it on video. She was so funny.
She came down with a huge smile and said "again!" She is fearless right now.After the 3rd time she tumbled and scratched her face on the slide. She came up a little hurt (there might have been a small amount of bleeding). I thought she would be done...but nope. She immediately went back up and this time slid on her tummy.

I think she did the slide 20 times

She took a break from the slide to play ball with Brady...

And bounce...

Sean the birthday boy!

Crazy hair from all the sliding and bouncing!

And then back to the slide!

Group pic at the end...I have no idea why sweet Pierce is so upset.

Happy Birthday Sean!!!

Swaddle Break

It doesn't matter how tight I swaddle Brynlee...she breaks out every time. How does she do this?
She's been breaking out at night, which I kind of understand because she inches around and squirms thoughout the night. But this...this was after a nap.
So proud of her escape!

Hopscotch

Since it has been so cold outside we have had to come up with some active indoor activities to keep this 2 year old occupied. Kate got this hopscotch rug for Christmas and I decided it was a good time to pull it out. She is still too young to fully be able to do it but she loves throwing her bean bag onto the number and then running up and down the mat and then doing the next number.
Look at this throw...pretty sure this bean bag went a little too far!

Some action shots...

Brought back lots of memories from 4th grade! I loved me some hopscotch! But it is not as easy to bend over and pick up that beanbag anymore.

Kate's eye

We noticed a few months ago that one of Kate's eyes tended to "wander." It mostly happened at breakfast, or when she was really tired. We didn't think much about it...until it started happening more. It didn't seem to bother her that we could tell, except she would rub it or blink to make it go back to "normal." So after consulting our pediatrician we went to a pediatric eye doctor who diagnosed her with "exotropia." Basically, she has a wandering eye that drifts out. After our first appointment, the doctor told us to monitor her to see if it was getting worse (drifting out more). We definitely started noticing that her eye was drifting further out and staying out for greater amounts of time. When this happens, she has double vision. The brain suppresses the image from the deviating eye resulting in the her seeing with only one eye. The reason Kate rubs her eye is to prevent the double vision.

So after our last appointment, the doctor recommended it was time to have strabismus (eye muscle) surgery. Basically, he is going to move her muscle to help Kate maintain straight eyes and enhance her eyes working together. The longer a child goes without the surgery the more difficult it is to completely cure. The child's brain "adapts" to this abnormal relationship and restoration of using the eyes together is harder to restore.

I am writing all this out because several people have asked the details of what is going on.

We have scheduled the surgery for Friday, March 4th. It is a 10 - 20 minute outpatient procedure. Kate will be back to normal activities within a few days. She will have red eyes and swelling for 10-14 days. We will know the outcome of the procedure within 6 weeks.

Thank you so much for all of you who are praying for our sweet girl (and her parents).
Here are some specifics you can be praying for us.
1. That the procedure would be 100% successful. Due to Kate's age, there is 20-25% chance we might have to have another procedure later.
2. That the redness and swelling will be kept to a minimum and that she will heal quickly.
3. Pray that we all survive the morning...Kate's surgery is not until 11:30 or 12. She can't eat anything 8 hours before and can't have any liquids 3 hours before. For our child who confirms breakfast every night before we go to bed, "oatmeal after nap" "milk after nap" this is going to be a shock! Thankfully the nurse told me that she can have Jell-O.
4. We aren't going to talk to her about the surgery until 1-2 days before. Pray for wisdom on how to talk about the surgery with her. And pray for us (especially Mommy) to be strong for her.

Most people have told us they have never noticed her eye drifting. I took this picture tonight before bed. This is what it looks like when it is out. It happens really fast and you probably wouldn't notice if you weren't looking for it.

Thanks again for your prayers!

Polka Dot Pics

Kate thinks it is funny when her and Brynlee are dressed alike. I don't do it often but every once in a while I put them in matching or similar clothes. I got Kate dressed for church first. When she saw what Brynlee was wearing she said, "Bryn has polka dots toooo!"

Bryn and the bird

Tonight while Kate was eating dinner, I kept hearing this crinkle noise. I couldn't figure out where it was coming from and then I realized it was Brynlee...playing with the bird on her playmat.
It is so different the second time around. I remember being so excited the first time I saw Kate grab the monkey's leg on the playmat. I felt like she (Kate) laid on the playmat for months before she ever grabbed for one of the toys. Tonight it took a minute to register that it was Brynlee making the noise because I still feel like she is so little and "doesn't do much." She really is getting so big so fast.

Old Maid

Kate loves to "play cards." She loves the old school card game "Old Maid." Parker and I have played the real way with her. She did pretty good except for the fact that everytime she drew the Old Maid, she would say, "Old Maid...she not have a match...put her back in the box." Sooo, we decided to let her just play it like a matching game. We lay all the cards face up on the table and she matches the people.

Her first move is to pick the Old Maid up and put her back in the box.

"MATCH!"

Bryn's Big Smiles

Since Brynlee is in pajamas most of the time, I took some pictures of her all dressed up for church. And she was super smiley!

I love these Big Smiles.

Giggles

Brynlee has started giggling. It was Parker's first time to shoot video and I still don't know how to edit so just ignore the end.

Snow

It snowed today! We probably got 2-3 inches. We didn't play in it since Kate has an ear infection and Brynlee has a cold. When Parker told Kate it was snowing she said, "oh, okay." She never asked to go outside to play.

I put Brynlee in the bumbo seat for the first time today. She is probably still a little small but she seemed to like it for a little while.

Brynlee "watching" the snow fall...check out her sweet bald spot!


Kate was really fascinated with Brynlee in the bumbo...

our front yard is covered with snow!

Saturday afternoon

Brynlee has been sick with bad congestion and a terrible cough. We are supposed to keep her propped up as much as possible...so to give her a little change of scenery from her bouncy seat, I put her in her carseat this afternoon.



Watching Kate and Daddy color...

Kate was "rocking" her...look at Brynlee smiling at Kate...so sweet.

Not sure who likes the carseat toy better...Brynlee or Kate. Kate loves to push the frog and hear it sing!